Reed and Nat moved to Philadelphia

i finally got my birthday bike! thanks nat! i had been looking for a bike, because i had to leave my pink bike in eugene and it would cost too much to ship it out here. i finally found one that i liked and was leaving hints to nat that it would be the perfect birthday present.

well, hints might not be accurate- “nat, this is what i want for my birthday.”

My new bike!

so nat was waiting until he got paid to go to the bike store down on the corner, jay’s pedal power, to order the bike. he ended up working late for the last few days, so pork chop and i decided to walk the two blocks to palmer and girard.

i walked in (first asking if pork chop could come inside- he said yes, if she didn’t pee on the floor), and told him the exact bike that i wanted to order.

“Eh, so you want a custom Electra cruiser, white wheels, olive green?”

I said, “Yes.”

He replied, “We have one in stock. I’ll go get it.”

How fortuitous! He brought out the exact bike that I had wanted and all I had to do was buy fenders for it. Pork Chop and i waited while someone put on fenders. In the mean time, we entertained ourselves in the 90 degree weather by sniffing plants and drinking water out of puddles. okay, she did, i just followed her around on a leash. i was entertained by a woman who had gotten a beautiful bike (the amsterdam) and was speaking atrocious (but enthusiastic!) french to a worker who was fluent in french and had lived there for two years. she was hrumphing stupid americans who don’t even try to speak another language and who are just plain ignorant. it was particularly ironic when the fishtown native standing next to the two personnes de conversation was exactly as she was describing ignorant americans to be. i was cringing over her lovingly bad french, thinking ” je parle meilleur français qu’elle,” but at least it was passing the time while we were waiting.

UNTIL she left and the francophile worker returned inside. pork chop and i walked past the open work room door to discover that he was the one that was supposed to be putting my fenders on! Quel rat! But he was very nice, so we continued to wait and finally had my new bike! it was a difficult walk home with pork chop on one side and my bike on the other, but we survived. i couldn’t wait to take it for a ride. i was going to drop pork chop off and cruise around. until my plans were foiled again! Huge thunderstorm with torrential downpour. when it was time to pick up nat, we walked outside and pork chop tried to run back in. we got to the car looking like two wet rats!

it’s been raining ever since- so maybe this afternoon i will cruise around my neighborhood on my new bike! if you are looking to buy a bike in philly- go there to this bike store. overall an A rating!

I just booked Nat’s flight & hotel for Las Vegas in March. His brother Jim and his fiancée Heather are getting married March 19th. I don’t know if Nat has ever been to Vegas. I am jealous. I haven’t and I want to go to the wedding. I have to present in a conference in Harrisburg, PA those days. I think that it is the capital of PA. But don’t quote me on that.

Other exciting trips: I am flying to Eugene next weekend with 4 missions (renew my car registration, get a haircut, pick up Amber, and celebrate my mom’s and the rest of the January birthday crew’s birthdays); New Orleans for a conference in February; and Pittsburg at the end of March.

Wooohooo!! I almost have enought frequent flyer miles for a free ticket.

so when i finished with school, nat and i were supposed to go to japan, but never had enough money for it. i just got the specials for one of the airlines that i use and:

P.S. i will post holiday adventures soon. i think that i am still jetlagged from the PST.